Could you?
by trinity23
Summary: John decides its time he was totally honest with Phil. About who he is, what he's done and what he wants.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Could you?  
**Pairing: **John Morrison/CM Punk  
**Rating: **M (language)  
**Disclaimer: **I wish I owned these 2. Even just for a day...but sadly no. I dont own anything/anyone you recognise.

**So, I know I already have an ongoing story on here (Loves me not - check it out!) and just so you guys know, Im trying to write an update as we speak, but I'm not too inspired right now. Maybe if Drew was actually on TV once in a while it might help [/rant]. But in the meantime this little idea popped into my head, inspired by the song 'Honestly' by Kelly Clarkson.  
Honestly (hehe pun kinda intended) this was meant to be a tiny little one shot to get the idea outta my head, but its turned into the longest thing I've ever written AND I could possibly write a second chapter if I get enough reads/reviews (hint hint :-P). Hope you guys like it...I know JoMo isn't around anymore but I still love writing about him.**

So, this takes place around the beginning of 2011 I guess, when JoMo got decent TV time etc. Also, I dont know what the age gap is between JoMo and Punk, but for the sake of this story I see John as maybe 5 years younger, k?

John Morrison didn't fall in love. Simply because he knew that getting involved emotionally with someone would inevitably end in tears. So he stuck to random hook ups and one night stands, nothing that ever progressed into anything remotely resembling a relationship. It was just easier that way. So why then, was John standing at the bottom of a corridor, clenching his fists and trying desperately to control his emotions as he watched CM Punk flirting with Randy Orton?

Punk and JoMo had their history. They'd slept together a number of times and even though Phil had tried his best to convince the younger man into a more serious and exclusive relationship, John had always stuck to his guns. However, watching Punk whispering into the Vipers ears before stepping back smirking wickedly, that stirred something in John and he couldn't hold himself back any longer. Taking a deep breath, he walked towards the pair. He tried to smile politely at Randy, however he was clenching his teeth so hard, it came out more like a grimace. Placing his hand on Punks arm, he spoke quietly.

'Phil, do you have a sec? I have something I need to talk to you about.' Randy opened his mouth to protest but Punk, seeing the look on the smaller man's face, cut him off before he could say anything.

'Sure. I'll catch you later Randy, OK?' John didn't give Orton a chance to reply, leading Phil into an empty room where he locked the door behind them and turned to face Phil, a look in his eyes that the straight edge superstar had never seen before. John crossed his arms over his body defensively. Phil leant against the table in the centre of the room and waited for him to speak.

'I'm not a nice person you know Phil.' John stated quietly. Phil's eyes narrowed in confusion but before he could respond John was continuing. 'No really, I'm not. I'm a terrible person actually. I saw you talking to Orton and something in me just flipped. It's not the first time this has happened either. Do you remember when Drew and Cody had that fight a little while ago?'

Punk nodded. 'As if I could forget – the tension in this place was unbearable. I think everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they sorted out that … whatever it was.' He grinned at John, but his smile faded when he saw the look on Morrison's face.

'It was my fault y'know?' said John, with a harsh laugh when he saw Phil's expression change. 'Oh yeah, not many people know that. I convinced Cody that Drew was cheating on him and Cody ended it. Took Drew fucking ages to convince baby Rhodes that it was bullshit.'

'Why?' One simple word fell from Punks lips and he stared at John, waiting for his answer.'

'Oh simple. I wanted Drew.' John replied with a shrug. 'He knew I wanted him and, well, I'm not used to not getting what I want so I just had to try a bit harder. Didn't work though – he doesn't speak to me anymore. And it's taken a long time for Cody to be able to walk past me without trying to claw my eyes out.' With a sad smile in Phil's direction he hopped up onto the table beside him, flinching when he felt the older man take his hand.

'People do strange things when there's love involved Johnny. That doesn't necessarily make you a bad person. It was just one mistake.'

John shook his head sadly. 'You don't get it Phil. I didn't love Drew, in fact I've never really loved anyone, but that's not the point. The point is I wanted Drew and I didn't care what it took to get him. Same with Miz, Ziggler, Gabriel, Zack, Evan … the list goes on. I've broken up so many relationships Phil. Sure, some of them were strong enough to say no to me – but most of them weren't. I convinced them to leave their partners for me then once I got what I wanted, I pushed them away. And I wish I could say I'm sorry for doing it, but I'm not. All I did was take what I wanted and then got rid of them to protect myself before things got too heavy for me to handle. So you see I'm not a nice person Philly. I'm quite shitty really.'

Phil stood up and turned to face Morrison. 'Why are you telling me this?'

John paused and frowned before answering. 'Because I think I'm falling in love with you.' Phil snorted and he moved towards the door but John grabbed his arm, holding him back.  
'Everytime I spend the night with you it's getting harder and harder to make you leave the next day. It actually scares me Phil. But I couldn't say yes when you asked me if we could try for something more serious because I knew I'd just end up hurting you.'

Phil pushed Johns hand away and crossed his arms over his chest. 'So what changed?' he asked, his tone softening as he saw tears starting to form in the younger man's eyes.

'Nothing. That's my point. I still know that there's a strong possibility that I'll end up hurting you. But I've never felt so strongly about anyone before. That's why I had to tell you all this. I needed you to know what I'm really like. If you still want to give this a try, I'll say yes, but if you decide you want nothing to do with me then I'll understand. I just wanted to be honest with you. No more bullshit.' John finally gave in, letting the tears fall as he held his head in his hands and waited for the sound of the door closing behind Phil.

After a while, the tears subsided and he looked up to find Phil smiling fondly at him. 'I can't say no to you Johnny. I never could. I think we might be able to make this work, but I need some time to think about it.' Bending down, Phil placed a tender kiss on John's forehead and walked away, leaving the younger man unsure of whether to smile or cry.

**So guys, the balls in your court here. Did you like? If you did do you think I should continue it or leave it as a one-shot? And if I continue should I just stick to JoMo/Punk or would you wanna know more of what went on between John and some of the other guys? You wanna let me know? Hit the review button lovelies xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**OK, so I decided to continue this. Yay. This chapter is a bit short...but you have NO idea how hard it is writing Miz as the victim here. Miz is never this way when I write him, but for the purpose of this fic he had to be (does that make sense?) Anyway, I hope he's not too OOC.**

After what John had told him, Phil was ready to walk away. He didn't want to risk putting himself in danger of falling for someone who was just trying to get into his pants. He'd been there before and it fucking hurt. But he saw something in the eyes of the young brunette – something that made him think that, despite what he'd said, Johnny did regret what he'd done in the past. However, he wondered whether his feelings for John were clouding his judgement.

He knew what he needed to do.

'Hey Mike…Mike!'

The man known to the wrestling world as The Miz spun around to face Phil, glaring as snapped

'What? Why the hell are you stalking me around the arena Punk? Get the hint – I don't like you and I don't wanna talk to you.'

Phil crossed his arms and smirked at the younger man. 'Look Mizzy, I'm not overly fond of you either, don't worry, I just need to ask you something…about Johnny.'

Miz snorted and continued walking. He had only taken a few steps however before Punk caught up with him and shoved him into an empty room, standing in front of the door with his arms crossed.

'Don't take a bitch fit with me kid – it won't get you anywhere. What's your problem? I only want to ask you –'

'What?' the younger man shouted. 'What do you want to know Phillip? You wanna know how that stupid little whore ruined my life? Ruined the only relationship I've ever wanted? Is that what you want to hear?'

Punk raised an eyebrow at the sudden outburst before replying. 'First you ever, and I mean ever, call me Phillip again and I'll hurt you so bad you'll wish you'd stayed on The Real World. Secondly,' Phil's tone softened at the look on Miz's face 'sorry, but don't you think you're being a bit harsh? I mean John didn't force you to sleep with him right? You can't put all the blame on him.'

'Bullshit!' Mike snapped. 'Look Punk, Johnny and I were friends. Good friends. When Chris left WWE it was really hard to be here on my own – I'm not the most popular guy around here you know.' Mike smiled softly as Phil nodded in agreement. 'I know. But John was practically the only person I had. We spent all our time together and all I ever talked about was how much I missed Chris. Then one night, we'd been out, I'd had a bit too much to drink and when he started to kiss me I just couldn't help it. I was lonely. I know, it's not much of an excuse, but I really didn't know what I was doing.

So yeah, you're right, John didn't force me to sleep with him, but he took advantage of me when I was vulnerable. What we did would never have happened if I hadn't been drinking. I would never do that to Chris.'

Phil moved to hug the younger man but Mike shoved him away with a harsh laugh. 'Oh God please – no sympathy. You said it, I said it – we don't like each other. You got what you wanted; now do me a favour and go so I can get back to trying to forgive myself for what I did to the only person I've actually ever loved.'

Phil sighed as Mike turned his back. The shaking of his shoulders gave away what he was trying to hide and Phil left the room – leaving the brunette crying quietly.

**What do you think? Was it worth me continuing? Let me know - hit the review button :-) xxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Finally! A new chapter. I apologise for the long wait, but I've had major technological issues. So thanks for the reviews for this story upto now and I hope you're all still interested to know what happens now.  
Just a side note, dont try and place this story at a specific time in WWE stoylines...because it just doesnt fit anywhere. You kinda have to just go with it. **

CM Punk sat alone in catering; silently reviewing what both Miz and John had told him. Part of him wanted to think that Miz maybe wasn't as much the innocent party as he'd made out. Even though Johnny had basically told him to his face that he was capable of sinking that low – of toying with people's emotions to such an extent – in order to get what he wanted. But then Mike was bound to be bitter, surely? His one night with John had wrecked his relationship; he obviously wasn't going to have the highest opinion of the guy. Phi sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. He glanced up in acknowledgement when he heard someone join him at the table, smiling when he saw that it was the very person that he needed to talk to – Evan.

'Hey Evan,' he began, but stopped, noticing the blankness in the eyes of the high-flyer. Waving his hand in front of the younger mans face; Punk frowned as Evan snapped out of his daze. 'Trouble with the man again?' Punk enquired.

The smaller man nodded sadly. 'All we ever seem to do at the moment is argue. Ever since…' Evan stopped suddenly and shook his head. 'Never mind.'

Punk reached out and squeezed his arm gently. 'Ever since Morrison?' He asked quietly, causing Evan to pull his arm away and glare at Phil murderously.

'What the hell Phil? You of all people should know not to listen to all the bullshit that people spread around here. I don't know what you think you know but –' His voice trailed off at the unconvinced expression on the Chicago natives face.

'Johnny told me.' Phil offered in explanation, adding hurriedly 'He didn't tell me any details, don't worry, your name just came up. But I know it probably wasn't your fault. Johnny told me that much.' He smiled sadly. 'So I'm guessing Randy found out then?'

Evan nodded and replied angrily, 'That stupid tart made sure of that, didn't he?!'

Punk frowned in confusion. 'You mean John told Randy what happened? That you two had been together.'

Evan laughed bitterly. 'Nah, he hasn't got the balls for that. It was just little sarcastic comments y'know? He'd walk past us and say something like "You don't know what you're missing there Orton "' Seeing that Phil still looked confused, Evan sighed, realising that he would have to explain. 'Randy wouldn't let me top.' He muttered quietly.

Phil nodded, a grin slowly spreading across his face, which eventually grew into a quiet chuckle and then full on laughter at the indignant expression on the smaller mans face as he stood and stormed from the room. Punk took a few deep breaths to compose himself and followed after the high flyer. Evan walked quickly through the arena, Phil close behind, until they reached a deserted corridor where Evan turned suddenly and slammed Punk up against the wall, ramming his forearm into the older mans throat with a growl and held him there despite Punks struggling against the smaller man. Eventually Punk stilled and stared into the dark eyes of the man in front of him before nodding in defeat. As Evan let him go, Phil rubbed his neck, surprised at the littler mans power, and Evan grinned victoriously.

'Alright small fry,' Punk said good-naturedly. 'You've made your point. So how does Johnny come into that?'

Evan sighed. 'Well Randy and I had been arguing about it for a while. He didn't believe I could do it either. Anyway so this one night Id had enough of the piss-taking and I went to a bar. Johnny was there, we had a few drinks, I found myself telling him everything and, well things just kinda went from there. We got really flirty and we ended up back at his hotel room. I fucked him to within an inch of his life and he fucking loved it.' Punk was taken aback by such a blunt statement coming from the quiet young man and the look of astonishment in his eyes caused a wry grin to come over the face of the high flyer. 'Anyway,' Evan continued, 'So the next morning John chucked me out. I hated myself for what I'd done to Randy but there was no way I was gonna tell him – it was just a drunken mistake – he didn't need to know. But then that little bitch took the decision out of my hands.'

Suddenly realisation dawned on the straight edge superstar. 'So you told Randy?' He smacked himself on the forehead and shook his head. 'How long ago did he find out?'

Evan frowned at the question but replied curiously 'Only a couple of weeks ago, why?'

Punk grinned. 'That's why Randy was trying it on with me. I thought it was odd. Hey, hold up there big guy…' Punk grabbed Evans arm, stopping him from storming off again with a murderous look in his eyes. 'Don't you see kid? He's trying to make you jealous – you hurt tough guys pride.'

Evan shrugged in defeat and looked up at Punk expectantly. 'So what do I do now?' He asked, suddenly appearing much younger and more innocent than before.

'Well he definitely isn't gonna wanna bottom for you now. Not anytime soon.' Evan nodded sadly as Punk continued. 'You need to learn to trust each other again. He has to know that you love him. Have you guys been together since he found out about Johnny?'

Evan shook his head. 'No, he's too angry with me. But I miss him. I don't even mind not topping at this point – I just want him.'

Punk thought for a moment. 'Look Ev, when Randy came onto me he said he was pissed and he needed someone that he could take it out on. He needs to get it out of his system.' Punk looked at the thoughtful expression on Evans face before continuing. 'You need to show him you're sorry Ev. Let him take it out on you if that's what he needs to do. Let him punish you. Get through that and he'll know you trust him and he'll be able to trust you again.' Punk smiled at the innocence in Evans eyes and grabbed the younger man into a hug. 'You're strong enough kid. I promise.'

Next morning, Phil was headed down for breakfast, having not slept much the night before. This was not just because his brain was working overtime trying to figure out the Johnny situation, the noises coming from the couple in the room next door had done nothing to help. As he stepped out of his hotel room, he bumped into Evan and Randy coming out of that same room next-door, arms around each other and (Punk smiled to see) Randy's hand firmly on Evans ass. Phil and Randy nodded politely to each other and Evan grinned. Halfway down the corridor, Evan turned to Punk, mouthed the words 'Thank You' and winked.

Punk smiled to himself. At least he could sort out other people's problems. It was just his own that he was having trouble with.

**Well, there you go. Hope it was worth the wait. I do have more written so let me know if you wanna read it. Hit review :) xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the reviews guys :) I appreciate them a lot!**

**Next chapter is one of my new favourite pairings Punk/Ziggler. Hope you like.**

Punk had just finished eating breakfast when he saw John enter the room. Their eyes met and John smiled shyly, or perhaps hopefully – Phil couldn't really tell. Either way, Punk knew he was nowhere near ready to make his decision yet so he returned the younger mans smile but stood up quickly when he started walking towards him, clearly intent on joining him. Punk walked past John, subtly giving the younger mans hip a reassuring squeeze as he passed. Johns hand brushed over Phil's and he nodded, understanding that Punk was telling him that he needed more time. The two men went their separate ways, oblivious to the blond watching them intently from a nearby table.

Punk arrived at the arena early that evening hoping for a little time on his own to do a bit more thinking about the situation with John. He opened the door to the locker room, planning on chilling with his iPod for a while before the other guys got there. He would be surprised therefore to find his opponent for the night, Dolph Ziggler, already there listening to his own iPod, his eyes snapping open as Punk slammed the door behind him, still unaware that the younger man was there. He turned and raised an eyebrow questioningly at Dolph as he put his gear down.

'You're early Ziggles,' Punk said grinning. He and Dolph had been working together a lot recently and Phil had a genuine liking for the younger man. They were similar in a lot of ways – both had enormous amounts of self-confidence and belief in their talent when it came to the business and they had yet to have a bad match together. They also had similarly sarcastic senses of humour and spent most of their time trying to one-up each other, both in and out of the ring. Phil saw a bright future in WWE for Dolph and he was enjoying being a part of his rise up the ladder.

Dolph smiled in greeting and pulled his earphones out before replying. 'Yeah, I'm planning on getting some practise in the ring before the show – I keep getting beaten to it so I thought I'd come extra early today – they're not quite done setting up in there yet though. What are you doing here so early?'

'Actually,' the older man replied, 'I was looking for somewhere quiet to do some thinking. Clearly that's not going to happen now your loud mouth is here though so it looks like I'll be joining you in the ring to go through tonight's match.' Punk glanced at Dolph as he started pulling his gear out of his bag. 'That ok?' He asked, raising an eyebrow at Zigglers surprised expression.

'Really?' The blond questioned, trying unsuccessfully to keep the excitement out of his voice. 'I mean, you aren't usually one for planning the matches out too much beforehand. I can go if you want to be by yourself.' Dolph rummaged through his bag looking for his trunks and quickly changing before heading for the door.

'Well, wait then,' Punk said tutting before grabbing a t-shirt and following the younger man to the ring.

The two men messed around in the ring for a while, each having become so familiar with the others styles that they were constantly countering each others moves and holds. Dolph kicked out of a quick roll up by the Champ and scrambled to his feet, holding his hands up in defeat. 'Ok ok, this is getting us no-where. I wanted to try something out on you if you don't mind helping me out?'

The older man shrugged 'Just coz I was winning.' He said with a grin. 'What can I help you with junior? He asked with a wink.

Dolph rolled his eyes before speaking. 'Y'know how Nattie does that thing when she suplexes the Divas while she does those squats?' He began, Punk quickly interrupting.

'Oh, that'd fit the 'Show Off' thing you do perfectly. Do you think you can pull it off?'

Dolph spoke quickly 'Not on everyone, obviously, but I reckon I could manage it with you. I mean you're not exactly huge are you?'

'Well gee thanks,' replied the champion, slapping Dolph on the shoulder. 'Come on then Mr Perfection, give it a go.'

They got into position in the centre of the ring and Dolph lifted Punk into the suplex and steadied himself before slowly bending his knees into a squat and rising up again. Smirking, he managed five squats before the champ hissed in his ear 'Put me the fuck down. Now!' Dolph quickly let Punk down, surprised when Phil backed into the corner glaring at the blond. 'Look kid,' Punk began angrily. 'I know that in this job a little body contact is to be expected, but you groping my ass is not part of the deal.

Dolph blushed, embarrassed as he realised he wasn't being quite as subtle as he thought. Punk glared at him from across the ring as Dolph wracked his brain for an explanation before finally thinking 'Fuck It!' He marched over to the champion and crushed their lips together in a bruising kiss. The younger man ran his hands up Punks sides and wound one in his hair which had yet to be gelled for that nights show. Getting slightly carried away, he pulled on Punks hair, smirking when the older man moaned beneath him, clearly enjoying the rougher treatment, as he started kissing Dolph back. Dolph ran his tongue across Phil's bottom lip, teasing the lip ring he always wore and earning another moan from the champ before Punk pushed him away breathing heavily.

'Fuck, your good at that,' he muttered, almost to himself, grinning when Dolph raised an eyebrow cockily. Phil shook his head trying to clear his thoughts when he heard voices of some other superstars headed their way. 'Look kid; let's go get a coffee ok? I think we need to talk.'

'Look Phil,' Dolph began, wanting to get in first before Punk started. 'Maybe that wasn't exactly the place or the time for me to kiss you. I just, when you caught me out sneaking a feel, I kinda panicked. I didn't mean to upset –'

Punk held up a hand to silence the younger msn before speaking quietly. 'I get the feeling you've wanted to do that for a while huh?' Dolph nodded sheepishly. 'Well, I guess I'm flattered. You're a good looking guy and damn, you can kiss.'

Dolph smiled but replied sadly 'But? There's a but, right?'

Phil nodded. 'I'm sort of…well let's just say I'm involved with someone right now.'

Dolphs eyes narrowed in confusion. 'When you say involved?' he asked, noting the hesitation in Punks voice.

'Well that's exactly what I needed to think about,' snapped the older man. 'Remember? That's what I'd planned on doing before you dragged me out to the ring to try and feel me up!'

Dolph held up his hands in mock surrender. 'Whoa! What happened to being flattered? I think we should revisit that, don't you?'

Punk smiled weakly. 'Sorry kid. I got a lot on my mind here,'

Dolph nodded. 'I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say it's about Morrison?' He smiled at the surprised look on Punks face. 'You two aren't as subtle as you think you are y'know? Or maybe I'm just super observant. Either way…do you really think you can get him to change? You and I both know what he's like.'

The older man just shrugged and took a sip of his coffee before asking, 'Have you two ever…?'

'Once,' Dolph said quietly. 'It was stupid of me really. I knew what he was like, but I hadn't been with anyone in so long and I was trying to make myself forget about you…' The younger man smiled at Phil. 'Actually, it was all your fult thinking back…no seriously,' he said, laughing at the indignant expression on the champions face. 'John actually saw me looking at you one day. He asked me about it and I told him. Told him I thought that you were the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen. Shut up!' He said warningly as Punk began to snigger. 'I was young, hadn't had enough experiences with you to know that you were actually an ass. Anyway, John told me that he'd always had a thing for you too. Then he asked me if I wanted to forget about you for a while and, well, you know how the rest goes.'

Punk squeezed the younger man's hand. 'You're a good kid Dolph.'

The younger man smirked. 'Thanks. Anyway, my question still stands. Do you really think that John will change for you? I honestly don't know if the guy knows what love is. I've never known him be in a relationship. Ever. I don't know if even you can get him to stay with you.'

Punk sighed. 'I just don't know. I mean, I want to believe John when he says he'll try for me. But honestly, you aren't the first person to tell me you don't think he can do it.'

This time it was Ziggler who squeezed the older man's hand reassuringly. 'You'll figure it out.' The blond said. 'And if it doesn't work out, there's always me.' Dolph winked and walked out of the room, deliberately swaying his ass. He glanced back at Punk, sighing when he saw him slump down in his chair. The guy had it bad. Dolph hoped for Punks sake that he could get John to turn himself around. Otherwise, the older man was in for a harsh let-down.

**Review xxx**


	5. Chapter 5

**New Chapter up guys, sorry it's taken so long...Real life y'know bleh!**

**Anyhoo, this chapter is Diva-centric just so you know...and as always I own nobody and nothing. Trust me if I owned ANY of the people in this story I would not be using my time to write about them.**

'Punk?!'

Phil shook himself out of his stupor and looked around for the source of the voice that was calling his name, smiling when he saw the flash of pink hair that could only belong to one of his two favourite Divas.

'Nattie,' Punk laughed as he found himself enveloped in a hug from the young Canadian. 'What're you doing here babe? I've missed you.' Since Natalya was pretty much exclusive to SmackDown, Phil was surprised to see her make an appearance on Raw.

'Oh, there's some massive 8-diva tag tonight. Not sure why, I doubt creative even have a reason for it, but at least I get to tag with B.' The blondes eyes lit up as she talked about her girlfriend.

'Oh yeah – where's my best blonde at anyway?' Phil asked teasingly, earning a playful slap on the arm for his trouble.

'She's out in the ring with Eve I think, going through the finish for the match. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you.'

Punk kicked out the chair opposite him and grinned. 'What's up babe? Everything ok with you?'

Natalya sat down and took Phil's hand. 'It's not me I want to talk about.' She watched Phil's eyes narrow and squeezed his hand. 'What's up Phil? We're starting to worry about you – you've been far too quiet recently.'

Punk opened his mouth to deny that he'd been any such thing, but stopped at the look on the blondes determined face. 'Ok, don't look at me like that. Wait, who's we?' Raising an eyebrow, Phil continued 'I didn't think anyone paid that much attention to me – who've you been talking to Neidhart?' He asked with a grin, trying to lighten the mood of the discussion.

The young woman shook her head before replying. 'The trouble with you Phil is that you normally have so much to say that people can't help but notice when you stop talking. They're not used to having peace and quiet around you.' Before Punk could reply, the blonde continued. 'It's not just the guys around here either. I've had fans come up to me and ask why CM Punk isn't tweeting anymore y'know – the universe notices when you go quiet babe.'

When Phil thought about it, he hadn't even realised that he'd been neglecting his twitter recently. It just slipped down his list of priorities, especially since he was spending most of his free time where he'd normally be tweeting thinking about the Johnny issue. He sighed and squeezed Natties hand, smiling weakly across at her.

'Come on then. What's going on?' the Canadian asked.

Punk paused, deciding it couldn't hurt to get an outsiders perspective. At least he could guarantee that John hadn't slept with Natalya. He shook his head with a grin trying to shake that mental picture away.

'What?' The blonde asked sounding confused. 'What's funny?'

'Nothing, nothing,' Phil replied quickly – he definitely didn't need to have that conversation. 'OK, so Nattie, I need to ask you something. What do you think of Johnny?'

The 3rd generation Divas expression softened. 'Oh! Its boy trouble' she said, grinning as Phil blushed. 'Aw, you got a little crush there Punky?' Phil glared across at her, rolling his eyes when she raised her hands in mock surrender. 'Ok ok, sorry. Look Phil, you know I love you – you're like my brother, but guys are so not my area of expertise.' She stood up, scanning the room as thought searching for someone. 'Oh there she is. Lay! Hey, Layla! Come over here.'

Phil huffed in annoyance as the blonde waved the Brit over to where they were sitting before she jumped up from her chair, offering it to the brunette, who took it looking confused. 'Phil needs your help.' The Canadian explained. 'He's got boy trouble,' she said with a grin, going round to kiss Punk on the cheek. 'I'll see you later sexy,' she said, walking away. 'You too Punk,' she added with a wink, laughing at the expressions on both their faces as she left to find Beth.

Layla cleared her throat and smiled softly across at Punk. 'You still don't know what to do about Johnny huh?'

Phil chewed on his lip ring nervously. 'How…who told you?' He asked quietly.

The Brit bit her own lip shyly before answering. 'Actually, I overheard you talking to Dolph earlier. For what it's worth, I wouldn't completely discount Dolphs offer at the point – at least you know he really likes you. He's a cutie too. If I was –' she trailed off as Punk stood up in annoyance.

'If that's all the help you can be, then I'll be going now,' he said harshly, storming past the petite Diva who grabbed his wrist and pulled him onto the seat next to her.

'OK sorry, that was none of my business…but that at least must show you how you feel about John – you don't even want to think about being with someone that isn't him. Am I right?' Layla asked, crossing her arms and grinning triumphantly.

Phil shrugged. 'I suppose so…but I just, I don't know if I can take the risk. I mean, I've heard such awful things about him. How do I know he's not gonna hurt me just like he's hurt everyone else?' He looked over at the brunette, silently begging her to give him an answer.

'You know I can't tell you that Phil – no-one can tell you that but Johnny. But I wouldn't listen to everything that the other guys tell you. It's not easy to be nice about someone when they've hurt you. It's easy to forget the good stuff and only remember the bad.' Lay smiled as Phil began to chew on his lip ring again. 'That's sexy y'know?'

'What is?' Phil asked, looking around, clearly oblivious to what he was doing. Layla shook her head, laughing.

'Nevermind. Look Phil, you know I can't tell you what to do…but I will say, if he's having this kind of effect on you then you must have some feelings for him. And that's not something you should give up on because of what other people say.'

Phil smiled and hugged the younger woman. 'Thanks Lay. I think you're right,' he said, standing up to leave.

'Course I'm right – I always am,' she said with a wink. 'Real Talk!' She laughed as Punk rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, both of them oblivious to the fact that he was being followed.

**Review? xx**


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